As I was reorganizing some files, I came across the full text of this review of Strange Ladies: 7 Stories that was published in the Book Brothers Blog. Here ‘tis:

“When the Book Brothers first received a copy of Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, we were immediately intrigued by the title. What can we say, there has always been a soft spot in our hearts for strange ladies. So, we decided to tackle Strange Ladies immediately and the results were not disappointing (no pun intended).

Strange Ladies is a short and easy read you can probably breeze through in a quiet evening or two. The 7 shorts presented are all entirely different from one another, each creating a vibrant picture of its setting and inhabitants. Even the character dialogue in each story is clearly defined. Lisa Mason does not strike us as an author not willing to take chances.

The first tale is titled, The Oniomancer. It follows a Chinese-American bicycle messenger by the name of Chinadoll. Chinadoll is a punk rocker, living in a world full of eccentric characters. She has a penchant for finding things and one day comes across a strange item in the streets. This object will change her life forever.

Guardian tells the tale of a Vaughn Kennedy, a woman purchasing her first home. Vaughn is very much like you and me, struggling over simple day-to-day decisions. However, when a thief threatens the neighborhood, Vaughn turns to an unlikely source for protection.

The story Felicitas introduces us to yet another Strange Lady. In this tale, we are introduced to a young Mexican illegal immigrant who also happens to be a shape shifter. She sits in her cell awaiting her execution and reflects on her past.

Stripper follows an exotic dancer by the name of Sashi, who has the unique ability to bend the space-time continuum. This story is complex, but has some interesting underlying themes challenging preconceived notions about female sexuality and gender roles. Oh, and she also fights the mafia.

In Triad, we are introduced to Dana Anad, who lives half the time as a woman and the other half as a man. This is another gender bending tale that challenges traditional male/female roles. It is a unique love story not quite like anything we have ever read before.

Destination was inspired by an actual event in Lisa Mason’s life. In it, the female lead, Sal, decides to take three strangers cross-country in exchange for gas money. While they are traveling, the radio warns of a serial killer on the prowl. What starts off as a traditional horror tale soon becomes much more with twists and turns on the road you won’t see coming.

Finally, Transformation and the Postmodern Identity Crisis, tells the story of what happened to Wonderland after Alice decided to stumble through the rabbit hole. This is far darker territory than Tim Burton ever dared take such classic characters, though told with humor and wit.

Each story is cleverly crafted and unique. You won’t feel like you are treading over rehashed plot devices on this journey. This is not literature for those lacking in brain cells. These stories are complex and often require the reader to venture outside of their normal “reality.”

Lisa Mason might just be the female Phillip K. Dick. Like Dick, Mason’s stories are far more than just sci-fi tales, they are brimming with insight into human consciousness and the social condition.Strange Ladies: 7 Stories is a sci-fi collection of excellent quality. If you like deeply crafted worlds with strange, yet relatable characters, then you won’t want to miss it.”
—http://www.thebookbrothers.com/2013/09/the-book-brothers-review-strange.html#more

So there you have it, my friends. I love short stories! Share the love here!

In the September-October 68th Anniversary issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, I published “Riddle.” Here’s one review of many: “Lisa Mason’s ‘Riddle’ is a short fantasy story about a struggling San Francisco artist who is dumped by his ambitious lawyer girl-friend. He goes out, gets drunk, fails to score with the bar’s new waitress and staggers home, only to find a half-naked woman hiding behind the bins outside his apartment. He lives in a crummy end of town, so doesn’t want to leave her outside. However, he’s also suspicious of being robbed by a stranger. Common humanity eventually triumphs and he lets her in for the night, only to find out that she’s a lot stranger than he could possibly have imagined. This is a well-executed supernatural story which brings a fascinating mythical being into a contemporary context and has a lot of fun with what happens next. The main characters are convincingly portrayed and the plot plays out remorselessly to a dramatic conclusion.”http://sfcrowsnest.info/the-magazine-of-fantasy-science-fiction-sept-oct-2017-volume-133-733-magazine-review/

Then, in the January-February 2018 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, I published “Aurelia.” Here’s the first review of that story: “Rot. Molding leaves and fungus. The smell of soil. And a thoroughly despicable lawyer. Lisa Mason‘s “Aurelia” is a tour de force, an assault on the senses wrapped around a mystery, a tale of friendship and copious amounts of unscrupulous sex and a main character one loves to hate. And yet, Mason manages to make him engaging.
“Aurelia” sticks to its theme in a skillfully executed and very entertaining manner. The writing itself feels like a cross between thoroughly modern dark fantasy, and classics like Poe and Lovecraft, dragging you forward, almost against your own will. If you like dark fantasy, mysteries, and gorgeous prose, “Aurelia” is for you.” https://www.tangentonline.com/print–bi-monthly-reviewsmenu-260/221-fantasy-a-science-fiction/3705-fantasy-a-science-fiction-januaryfebruary-2018

In the same vein, I published “Felicitas,” another dark modern fantasy with erotic overtones told from the point of view of a shapeshifter. The story originally appeared in an anthology, Desire Burn: Women Writing from the Dark Side of Passion (Carroll & Graf), edited by Janet Berliner. The story was republished in Strange Ladies: 7 Stories. In The San Francisco Book Review, critic David Marshall wrote: “One of the joys of reading collections is getting a better sense of an author’s range. In this instance, Strange Ladies offers everything you could possibly want, from more traditional science fiction and fantasy tropes to thought-provoking explorations of gender issues and pleasing postmodern humor. In each of the stories, we meet a very different woman…This is a must-read collection.” Strange Ladies: 7 Stories is onUS Kindle, Canada Kindle, UK Kindle, BarnesandNoble, Smashwords, Apple, andKobo. On Kindle inAustralia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, India, Mexico, and Netherlands. ORDER IN PRINT athttps://www.amazon.com/Strange-Ladies-Stories-Lisa-Mason/dp/1981104380/!

We are offering five books by New York Times Notable Book AuthorLisa Masonnewly reissued as beautiful trade paperbacks for the holiday gift-giving season. At least two more books will be back in print soon. All are also ebooks available worldwide.Shop the Internet from the comfort of your home or office or the convenience of wherever you are with your mobile device!
Please click on the title to view the book cover, a book description, and more reviews.

If you would like to receive Lisa Mason’s quarterly newsletter, New Book News, please respond by email to lisasmason@aol.com, enter “Add Me” on the subject line, and it shall be done. You may unsubscribe at any time.

An independent enterprise and free-lance writer since 1991.
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RS: Is there really such a thing as “Abracadabra” and what does it mean?
LM: Yes, there is. “Abracadabra” is a real magical spell formulated by Cabbalist magicians two thousand years ago. Originally invoked to cure mortal diseases, the spell has since been employed as the enabling word to cause the result of a magical operation. The spell can only be used to create good results, never evil (see E.A. Wallis Budge, Lewis Spence, and others) and is so powerful everyone in the world has heard of the word.

RS: Tell us about your book, The Garden of Abracadabra.
LM: At her mother’s urgent deathbed plea, Abby Teller enrolls at the Berkeley College of Magical Arts and Crafts to learn Real Magic. To support herself through school, she signs on as the superintendent of the Garden of Abracadabra, a mysterious, magical apartment building on campus.
She discovers that all of her tenants are some stripe of supernatural entity—witches, shapeshifters, vampires, and wizards—and that each apartment is a fairyland or hell.
On her first day in Berkeley, she stumbles upon a supernatural multiple murder scene. One of the victims is a man she picked up hitchhiking the day before.
etween three men—Daniel Stern, her ex-fiance who wants her back, Jack Kovac, an enigmatic FBI agent who is also a magician, and Prince Lastor, her mysterious and sexy tenant in the penthouse apartment who may be a suspect.
Abby will discover the first secrets of an ancient and ongoing war between humanity and the demonic realms, uncover mysteries of her own troubled past, and learn that the lessons of Real Magic may spell the difference between her own life or death.
A reader on Goodreads wrote, “So refreshing! This is Stephanie Plum in the world of Harry Potter.”

RS: How would you categorize The Garden of Abracadabra?
LM: The book, the first of a trilogy, possibly a series, is squarely within the subgenre of Urban Fantasy. I love this subgenre, which falls within Fantasy and first became recognized about ten years ago.
What is Urban Fantasy? It’s that rich blend of fantasy tropes (magic and magicians, witches, wizards, vampires, shapeshifters, demons) in a contemporary setting, often an urban area (as opposed to the rural, medieval settings of high fantasy), and mystery tropes (detective work, murder and crime, police procedural), spiced up with dicey romance, troublesome relationship issues, and wit and whimsy interspersed with the murder and mayhem.

RS: Are there books you’ve read that influenced your interest in Urban Fantasy?
LM: Oh, yes! Books I adored when I first began to read as a child have shaped my love of Urban Fantasy. Supernatural people in a real-world setting and wise articulate animals in all four volumes of P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins (such beautiful and humorous writing, a true sense of wonder, and wonderful pen-and-ink illustrations). Myths and Enchantment Tales adapted by Margaret Evans Price and illustrated by Evelyn Urbanowich (illustrated Greek and Roman myths). Then there was the Giant Golden Book of Dogs, Cats, and Horses (61 short illustrated stories, a Newberry Award winner). Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Books (my edition has dazzling pastel illustrations). Who could have missed Charlotte’s Web (a rare book dealer in New York is selling the edition I own for $3,000! I wouldn’t part with mine). I took all of these books (lovingly wrapped in plastic) with me to college in Ann Arbor and lugged them all the way to California where they sit on my bookshelf to this day.

RS: Did anything in particular inspire you?
LM: Yes! Like every author on the verge of a special, big new project, I well remember that transcendent moment of first inspiration for The Garden of Abracadabra.
Often inspiration springs from something quotidian, mundane. You’re in the shower. Or shopping for groceries. Or going for a jog.
Or, in this instance, searching for a parking place in Berkeley.
Berkeley is a small historic university town across the Bay from San Francisco. The town is so crowded now, searching for a parking place on the street is something of a quixotic quest.
As Tom and I cruised through unfamiliar neighborhoods looking for that elusive space, we passed by a spectacular 1920s Mediterranean apartment building and were both instantly struck by its beauty. But more than that, the place had a powerful vibe or atmosphere. It was downright spooky!
The idea sprang instantly: what if you were the superintendent of a building like that and discovered that every tenant was some stripe of supernatural being and every apartment was a portal to a fantasy world? To a fairyland or a hell? I knew I had my book!

RS: So, okay, you had a magical apartment building and a super. What then?
LM: Well, I had a high-concept setting and a heroine, but I didn’t think that was enough. I didn’t want a fantasy knock-off of an old TV situation comedy, “One Day at a Time,” with witches.
I wanted more plot, more tension, more strength to the heroine.
I don’t like slacker characters. Abby Teller is a vital, lively, witty woman and she needed an excellent reason for signing on for a mundane job like that.
Well, of course! She’s going back to college to learn Real Magic. She needs a job with flexible hours and a lot of independence. And she must learn to master her power to save her life.

RS: Is Abby’s life in danger? And what is Real Magic?
LM: Abby Teller must learn Real Magic to defend herself against the Horde, gangster-sorcerers who murdered her father when she was a child of eight. It turns out that she’ll use techniques of Real Magic to deal with all of the supernatural people and entities at the Garden of Abracadabra.
She applies to and is accepted by the Berkeley College of Magical Arts and Crafts.
In Volume 1, she learns the First and Second Fundamentals of Real Magic. As research I consulted several volumes in my own library, including Real Magic by R.E.I. Bonewits, Natural Magic by David Carroll, Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall, The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians by Magus Incognito, and The Complete Book of Spells, Ceremonies & Magic by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler among many others.
The First Fundamental of Real Magic is “Knowledge is Power” and, as a corollary, “Know Thyself.” The great philosopher and teacher Pythagoras coined that adage 2,500 years ago, but it still rings true today, especially in this age of media up to your eyeballs.
“Know Thyself.” Think for yourself. Question authority. Investigate and research issues, then exercise your own judgment and will. Only then may you practice Real Magic in the real world.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Yet how many people allow themselves to be whipsawed by the media? Not to mention by other people?
Abby Teller applies the First Fundamental of Real Magic to come to grips with her feelings about her mother’s wasting illness and recent death. Her grief and guilt seriously compromise her ability to master her power.

RS: You have a lot of detail about the apartment building. Is that based on the mysterious building you glimpsed in Berkeley?LM: Partially, and also on The Garden of Allah. This was a Mediterranean apartment complex with bungalows and a pool in Hollywood. Sheilah Graham wrote a memoir about the place, which was inhabited by famous actors of the 1940s like Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, and Greta Garbo, usually before they attained their fame, and also by the New Yorker crowd of writers, like Dorothy Parker, John O’Hara, and Robert Benchley, who came to Hollywood to write screenplays. Sheilah and her lover, F. Scott Fitzgerald, also spent a great deal of time there.
I loved the idea of an apartment building inhabited not by famous actors and writers, but by all sorts of supernatural people and entities!
As you would expect of a crowd of professional exhibitionists living in close quarters, the Hollywood denizens of the Garden of Allah were infamous for their shenanigans. Several scenes from Marx brothers’ movies were based on incidents that took place there: people hiding in closets, people charging through doors into someone’s bedroom. Various scenes in “A Day At the Races” or “Horse Feathers” were inspired by life at the Garden of Allah.
So, too, the Garden of Abracadabra is “the biggest, coolest party place in Berkeley.” I take the reader to several of the parties that supernatural entities throw!

RS: Is the Garden of Allah still around?
LM: No, urban development in Los Angeles moved on after the war years. The Garden of Allah fell into disrepair and was leveled in the 1960s. A strip mall and parking lot were built over the grave of the beautiful Mediterranean apartment complex.
Joni Mitchell’s delightful ditty, Big Yellow Taxi, is about the demise of the Garden of Allah. The song goes, “Don’t it always seem to go; you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. They paved Paradise, put up a parking lot.”I never knew that, did you? I read about the connection recently in an article in The Hollywood Reporter. I’ve received that trade journal for free ever since I sold my Omni story, “Tomorrow’s Child,” to Universal Pictures. I don’t know who comp’ed me! It’s pretty funny. Every year I receive an email from THR begging me to renew my free subscription!
The Garden of Abracadabra was built in Berkeley in 1850 during the California Gold Rush. This beautiful Mediterranean building won’t be demolished any time soon!

RS: You mention that Abby Teller is “torn between three men.” She sounds like she’s rather busy!
LM: Abby is searching for true love. When we first meet her, she’s just broken up with her fiancé of three years. Daniel Stern has no magical power the way Abby does, and Abby’s mother pleaded with her to leave him. Daniel can’t protect her from the Horde and he may even turn against her one day. Their relationship has been floundering, anyway. So Abby returns her engagement ring, but not without misgivings.
Now that she’s free, she immediately attracts the attention of three very different men of magic: first, the sorcerer-hitchhiker Brand, second, the enigmatic magician-FBI agent Jack Kovac, and third, the mysterious, alluring Prince Lastor, a tenant in the penthouse who may be a suspect in the supernatural murders.
Abby is also searching for her own identity. Every person with magical power whom she meets when she arrives in Berkeley is shocked when she introduces herself. Why? Because, they tell her, Abby Teller is legendary and Abby Teller is dead.
Of course, Abby isn’t dead, she’s very much alive, living a private life and taking care of her dying mother in Buckeye Heights until the mother’s recent death.
Why does everyone in the World of Magic believe this strange story? And how did they learn of it?
The answers to these questions drive Abby’s quest to discover her true identity as a woman of power destined to fight evil magic.
Central to Abby’s development as a woman of power is her confrontation with and resolution of mysteries of her past, especially the mystery of her father’s death. And why did her mother contract an incurable wasting illness, requiring Abby’s care for years, beginning when she was a young teen?
Stop me before I give away any more plot spoilers! People need to read the book!

RS: Okay! And you say The Garden of Abracadabra is just the first book of a series?
LM: Yes, I’ve been working on Volume 2, The Labyrinth of Illusions, for some years now and have a third in mind. I’m structuring the first three books on a plot arc that should be resolved by Volume 3, The Shadows of Illyria.
Depending on how wide a readership the three books receive, I may then proceed with another set of three books. But we’ll see!
Breaking News: The Garden of Abracadabra is NOW IN PRINT!ORDER YOURS directly from the Printer athttps://www.createspace.com/7675783or on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1978148291/Charlaine Harris ended the Sooki Stackhouse (True Blood) books with twelve books (I think). Same for Kim Harrison and the Rachel Morgan books. Jim Butcher, on the other hand, is still going strong with the Dresden Files after twenty-plus books. Same for Laurell K. Hamilton and her Anita Blake books. Both of those authors have expanded their original premise—a supernatural detective—beyond strict Urban Fantasy, with Butcher incorporating high fantasy tropes into the mix and Hamilton resorting more and more to porn.
Career-wise, I think an author will do well to develop a series, or at least a trilogy, for a concept that fits into a recognized genre like Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, or Science Fiction. The trick, though, is keep the momentum going.

As for me, I’m publishing stories. In 2015, I published two well-received stories in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, “Teardrop” in the May-June 2015 issue and “Tomorrow Is A Lovely Day,” in the November-December 2015 issue. These were both chosen by Gordon Van Gelder. I published “Anything For You,” in the September-October 2016 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. This story was chosen by the present editor, C.C. Finlay. “Riddle” has been published in the September-October 2017 68th anniversary issue of F&SF, and “Dangerous” will appear in Welcome to Dystopia, an anthology to be published by OR Books on December 7, 2017. “Aurelia,” will be published in the January-February 2018 issue of F&SF, and “The Bicycle Whisperer” sometime later in 2018.
I’ve published ten novels, including Summer of Love, a Philip K. Dick Award Finalist and San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book, The Gilded Age, a New York Times Notable Book and New York Public Library Recommended Book, a collection of previously published fiction, Strange Ladies: 7 Stories, and thirty-three stories and novellas in magazines and anthologies worldwide. My Omni story, “Tomorrow’s Child,” sold outright as a feature film to Universal Pictures and is in active development.

Fantasy Readers, take note! SIX HOURS remain for the SFWA Fantasy Storybundle! At Midnight Eastern, 9 PM Pacific, or whatever time zone you’re in, it’s gone! And when it’s gone, it’s gone. So you must download yours today! Tonight! Right now!

At StoryBundle, you the reader can name your price—whatever you feel the books are worth. For $5 (or more, if you wish), you’ll receive the basic bundle of four books in any eBook format worldwide. For $15 (or more, it’s up to you), you’ll receive eight bonus books as well. That’s twelve ebooks in all for $15 to add to your e-library.

The basic books include:

The High House by James Stoddard

Lonen’s War by Jeffe Kennedy

Cracked: A Magic iPhone Story by Janine Southard

Revolutionary Magic trio by Thomas Carpenter

The bonus books, completing your bundle, include:

Black Angel by Kjell Gold

Shadows in the Water by Kory M. Shrum

The Garden of Abracadabra by Lisa Mason

The Moon Ehterium by L. Rowyn

Off the Leash by Daniel Potter

Stay Crazy by Erica Satifka

The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta

The Wolf at the End of the World by Douglas Smith

Those proceeds of the bundle which you, the purchaser designate, will benefit SFWA in its mission to support, promote, inform, defend, and advocate for professional fantasy and science fiction writers.

If you’re just dipping your toe into fantasy—epic, romance, contemporary, or urban fantasy—and you’re not sure where to begin or if you’re a long-time fantasy fan and reader, this entertaining collection is an excellent addition to your e-library.

It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!

It’s also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

Get quality reads: We’ve chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.

Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that’s fine! You’ll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.

Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there’s nothing wrong with ditching DRM.

Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America!

Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you’ll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at @storybundle and like us on Facebook.

So there you have it, my friends. The SFWA Fantasy Storybundle ends midnight Eastern, 9 p.m. Pacific, this Thursday, November 2. That’s less than six hours. Once it’s gone, it’s gone! Download yours today at https://storybundle.com/fantasyand enjoy fantasyreading right now and into the holidays.

Fantasy Readers, take note! Two days remain for the SFWA Fantasy Storybundle! At Midnight Eastern, 9 PM Pacific, or whatever time zone you’re in, it’s gone! And when it’s gone, it’s gone. So you must download yours today! Tonight! Right now!

At StoryBundle, you the reader can name your price—whatever you feel the books are worth. For $5 (or more, if you wish), you’ll receive the basic bundle of four books in any eBook format worldwide. For $15 (or more, it’s up to you), you’ll receive eight bonus books as well. That’s twelve ebooks in all for $15 to add to your e-library.

The basic books include:

The High House by James Stoddard

Lonen’s War by Jeffe Kennedy

Cracked: A Magic iPhone Story by Janine Southard

Revolutionary Magic trio by Thomas Carpenter

The bonus books, completing your bundle, include:

Black Angel by Kjell Gold

Shadows in the Water by Kory M. Shrum

The Garden of Abracadabra by Lisa Mason

The Moon Ehterium by L. Rowyn

Off the Leash by Daniel Potter

Stay Crazy by Erica Satifka

The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta

The Wolf at the End of the World by Douglas Smith

Those proceeds of the bundle which you, the purchaser designate, will benefit SFWA in its mission to support, promote, inform, defend, and advocate for professional fantasy and science fiction writers.

If you’re just dipping your toe into fantasy—epic, romance, contemporary, or urban fantasy—and you’re not sure where to begin or if you’re a long-time fantasy fan and reader, this entertaining collection is an excellent addition to your e-library.

It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!

It’s also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

Get quality reads: We’ve chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.

Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that’s fine! You’ll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.

Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there’s nothing wrong with ditching DRM.

Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America!

Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you’ll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at @storybundle and like us on Facebook.

So there you have it, my friends. The SFWA Fantasy Storybundle ends midnight Eastern, 9 p.m. Pacific, this Thursday, November 2. That’s less than two days. Once it’s gone, it’s gone! Download yours today at https://storybundle.com/fantasyand enjoy world-classfantasyreading right now and into the holidays.

1 – Tell us about your book in the SFWA Storybundle in one or two sentences.

Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story follows three story-gamers in Seattle who acquire a magic iPhone… it isn’t friendly.

2- What was your favorite part about writing this novel?The setting! Sometimes I call this novel my “love letter to Seattle.” The whole time I was writing, I had a running list of things that are sooooSeattle (example: the complicated compost/recycle/trash bins at every coffee shop for appropriate self-bussing). I would go out with friends and grill them suggestions. A local paper would write about our bicycle feud with Portland, and I’d add “inferiority complex: Portland” to my list.

I felt vindicated when my copyeditor (who is a Seattle area native) told me she’d never have guessed I came from elsewhere.

3- What was the inspiration behind it?Sheer contrariness.
I started this book so many times (with so many plots and characters) that I don’t remember what the original impetus was. The one constant has been a magic iPhone owned by a Blackberry/Android/whatever aficionado.
This time around, though, I’d been attending multiple critique groups and writing conferences where the prevailing opinion was: only first person point of view or deeeeeeep third person singular were acceptable viewpoints. “What about second person?” I wondered. Then, “what about third person omniscient?”
Having found the furthest thing from first person viewpoint, I dared myself to write an entire book in third person omniscient. This turned out to be great fun and led to reviewers comparing the novel to both Douglas Adams and Jane Austen (there’s a mash-up for you). So I guess it turned out well.

4 -Let’s talk about fantasy fiction more generally. Is there a trend in fantasy fiction that you love right now? Or perhaps one you’d like to see make a comeback?I want quest fantasies to make a comeback because I have a complete novel waiting to be published that’s utterly out of fashion. ::laughs:: Seriously, though, I miss dragons. The only recent dragon books I can think of are the Temeraire books, which (if you missed them) are basically naval books with dragons in the place of sentient ships. They’re amazing. You should start with the first:Her Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

5- If readers absolutely adore your book, is there a sequel? What should they read of yours next?There’s an associated anthology of short stories by other authors:Untethered: A Magic iPhone Anthology. I love everything about it (as one might expect since I was the editor), from matchmaking iPhones to a put-upon Siri who refuses to give good GPS directions ever again.
Of mine specifically, though, if you like Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story for its wacky humor, I’d recommend the novella These Convergent Stars in which shapeshifting cats enact a mistaken identity comedy (in space).

So there you have it! Download the SFWA Fantasy Storybundletoday and receive Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story and eleven other ebooks!

At StoryBundle, you the reader can name your price—whatever you feel the books are worth. For $5 (or more, if you wish), you’ll receive the basic bundle of four books in any eBook format worldwide. For $15 (or more, it’s up to you), you’ll receive the eight bonus books as well. That’s twelve books in all for $15 to add to your e-library.

Are you ready? Here are the books:The Garden of Abracadabra by Lisa Mason

The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta

The High House by James Stoddard

Lonen’s War by Jeffe Kennedy

Cracked: A Magic iPhone Story by Janine Southard

Revolutionary Magic trio by Thomas Carpenter

Black Angel by Kjell Gold

Shadows in the Water by Kory M. Shrum

The Moon Ehterium by L. Rowyn

Off the Leash by Daniel Potter

Stay Crazy by Erica Satifka

The Wolf at the End of the World by Douglas Smith

At https://storybundle.com/fantasy, you’ll find the core books and the bonus books, book descriptions, excerpts, reviews, who the authors are, and more. Doug Smith is a three-time Aurora Award winner. Lisa Mason is a Philip K. Dick Award Finalist and New York Times Notable Author. Sally Wiener Grotta is a Locus Award nominee. The list goes on.

Oh! And you’ll find the SFWA Fantasy Storybundle. Which is only available until November 2. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Download yours today at https://storybundle.com/fantasy!